Welcome to Thursday 13, home of the easy meme where participants make a list of thirteen things on Thursdays. Topic is your choice. If you need ideas, check the link here.
As all of the other memes that I participate in each week are somewhat bookish in nature, I think I will try to avoid that on the Thursday 13's that I compile.
For this week, I have compiled a list of my thirteen favorite foods. These are all comfort foods that make me happy for various reasons, not just for taste. Most of them are items that I rarely get to eat anymore.
01. Soy Sauce-Marinated Steak
When I was growing up, this was my annual birthday dinner. My mom would begin marinating the beef about two or three days before my birthday and grilled enough that I would have leftover strips of steak in sandwiches with a little salt and mayonnaise for several days afterwards -- always the envy of kids at school. After my mother died, my sister inherited her recipes but this special meal never tasted the same without the care my mom put into it.
02. French Toast
Again, this was something best made by my mother but one that I used to cook myself after I left home. I haven't had a griddle since moving to Thailand but whenever I find a restaurant that serves French toast, I will try it out. The best I have found in Phuket is from a hotel in the tourist resort town of Patong called the Yorkshire Inn. It's really the only reason that I will go to that town. Once breakfast is over, it's back to saner parts of the island.
03. Huevos Rancheros
I haven't had this dish in many, many years. The basic version consists of fried eggs served on lightly fried or charred corn or flour tortillas topped with a pico de gallo made of tomatoes, chili peppers, onion, and cilantro along with refried beans and Mexican-style rice. I prefer the variety known as huevos divorciados which includes a different sauce for each of the eggs -- salsa roja and salsa verde. There are so many Mexican and New Mexico dishes that I simply cannot find in Thailand but this one I miss the most.
04. Baked Potato with Cheese & Sour Cream
Actually, any baked potato will do (I prefer Russett potatoes) as long as there is butter, salt and pepper. Melted cheddar cheese and sour cream with some onion sends me into the stratosphere (the latter can be raw but chopped or rings of caramelized onions). Thankfully, this has become a popular item in southern Thailand and can be found in many local markets in Phuket. The best bargain is from the new Night Walking Street in Karon where you can order a sour cream baked potato for 80 baht and add cheese to that for an additional 10 baht.
05. Owl Burger from Owl Cafe (San Antonio, New Mexico)
One can get a green chili cheeseburger almost anywhere in the state of New Mexico (even McDonald's has them on their budget menu). But hand's down the best place is a small bar and grill about 100 miles south of Albuquerque that has been around since the atomic bomb tests at the nearby Trinity site. When I lived in the Northeast Heights, I would make the journey to Owl at least once almost every month. The beef patty is crusty and topped with a copious amount of chopped Hatch green chilies and that in turn is covered by a gooey layer of cheese. Yum! If I ever make it back to the States, I will make a special detour to eat an Owl Burger or two.
06. Massman Green Curry with Chicken
Massman has topped a number of polls listing the World's Most Delicious Foods including a 2021 list on CNN Travel. It is definitely my favorite of all Thai foods with it's creamy coconut milk-based curry featuring a mix of spicy and savory ingredients including chili peppers, cardamom, cinnamon, chicken, garlic, nutmeg, potatoes, peanuts, and onions. It's never too spicy but is strangely soothing. I think it would be an even better cold-weather food as I often find it difficult to eat hot food in the Phuket climate. Still delicious.
07. Beef Tacos (Mom-style)
Okay, I have eaten a huge variety of taco variants all over the world but the ones my mother made when I was growing up were the absolute best. These were strictly Texan style with Old El Paso shells and seasoning but I don't care. Mom had a tendency to over-stuff the tacos and the juices from the filling would further weaken the shells resulting in a lot of bit remaining after the taco itself was gone. That was the best part -- a bonus taco salad to eat with a fork. Honorable mention should be made of those Tacos de Birria and Tacos al Pastor I used to find in northern Mexico. The best that I have found in Southeast Asia were at Viva! in Siam Reap (Cambodia) and Sunrise Tacos in Bangkok. I wouldn't mind a box of Taco Bell right about now, either.
08. Sloppy Joe
I used to make Sloppy Joes all the time in New Mexico and my early years in Thailand. Easy to make with a can of Manwich Original sauce added to ground beef on a toasted hamburger bun. I often diced up kosher dill pickles and mixed that into the topping. I have not seen any of the flavors of Manwich on the international market shelves in Phuket for many years.
09. Chili con Carne
This used to be my specialty, something I cooked often during the snowy winters of northern New Mexico. If I was on the day-shift, I would get up early in the morning to toss the ingredients into my slow cooker. They would simmer until I return to my home in the evening when the entire space would smell wonderful. I always used ground beef and a mix of tomato sauce and tomato paste along with stewed whole tomatoes and store-bought chili powder. I rarely added beans and only occasionally threw in some onion or garlic powder, sometimes a green or red chili pepper. Each bowl was covered in shredded cheddar cheese and I would usually stir in a few broken-up saltine crackers to help soak up the juices.
10. Pizza
I am not too picky with pizza other than generally not liking most seafood based pizza (which is extremely popular amongst my Thai friends). As long as the crust is good and the sauce isn't just ketchup, I will devour a slice or several. My favorite style is Chicago deep dish but I also love the huge foldable New York slices. I often dream of the Pizza Hut taco pizzas I made when working for that chain some 35 years ago. There are some really great Thai-fusion pizzas (the massman is pretty good but I would rather have the regular green curry). The worst thing about pizza in Thailand is that your Thai friends will attempt to douse your slices in ketchup as that's how they like it. Protect your slice if you dine with Thais!
11. Pulled Pork Sandwich
This is slow-cooked pork shoulder (often cooked for 16 or more hours) which is shredded and placed on a toasted hamburger bun with barbecue sauce. Bonus points if a kosher dill pickle slice is on the plate. I believe the best I ever had was at Arthur Bryant's on Brooklyn Avenue in Kansas City. The restaurant opened in 1908 and is also famous for its burnt ends, the flavorful end pieces of smoked beef brisket. The ribs are pretty good, too.
12. Caramel Popcorn
Popcorn is another food I associate with my time in Kansas City. It was tradition to buy big 3.5-gallon (and sometimes 6.5 gallons) tins from the local popcorn factory, Topsy's. I sometimes got a mixed tin containing cheddar cheese, plain and caramel popcorn but most of the time it was just the caramel. I miss that but have found some reasonable versions in Phuket. The best was from a cart located on the top floor of a local grocery story but it's no longer there. The movie theatres at the largest shopping mall on the island have some pretty good caramel popcorn but I haven't been since pre-pandemic times. I think you can buy it for takeaway without having to watch a movie so I might try that the next time I get a craving.
13. Ice Cream
Mmm. I scream. You scream. We all scream for ice cream. Gelato, too! My favorite is coffee ice cream with dark chocolate and peanut butter but I will try almost any flavor. I recently found a recipe for mango ice cream using a blender -- no fancy ice cream maker required so I can try making my own. There are a lot of really great ice cream parlors in Phuket as well as vendors who carry homemade ice cream around in large cylinders or on a motorbike sidecar. While the flavors are to die for, the toppings here are quite odd. Corn added to ice cream is quite common and I have seen dried insects offered as well.
I hope that you enjoyed my Thursday 13 this week. I found it quite difficult to come up with thirteen things and this was my third attempt (following "13 Things I want to buy" and "13 Favorite Countries"). I do have one idea for next week already -- "13 Snacks I like sold in Thai 7-Elevens". We will see if that pans out or not!
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